HEALTHFUL INDULGENCE

Much more flavor, organic ingredients, night-life vibe on the menu at upcoming eateries in San Diego area

Gang Kitchen

There was a time when health food would conjure up not-so-appetizing visions of sprouts, grains and tofu. But these days, restaurants are increasingly capitalizing on consumers’ growing appetite for healthful lifestyles by offering much more flavorful, gourmet-style versions of the health food of yesteryear.

Seasons 52, a fresh grill and wine bar that promises its customers they’ll feel good about themselves after dining there, has plans to open its second California location in San Diego this month, while Tender Greens, a fast-casual chain that places a premium on locally grown, organic ingredients, will debut its third San Diego restaurant early next year.

“There’s definitely increasing competition in this area, but we still believe there’s plenty of room in the niche,” said Jeff Carcara, senior director of operations for Seasons 52. “We focus more on celebrating living well. At Seasons 52, living well doesn’t have to mean cutting back. You can still have a three-course menu and enjoy yourself.”

Of course, dining out can still be all about indulgence, healthful or otherwise, which is what the owners of a forthcoming pizzeria in South Park are hoping to impart. In fact, the owners are so passionate about their concept they’ve imported a special wood-fired oven — and pizza maker — from Italy.

Meanwhile, restaurateur Jon Mangini, who has made pizza the centerpiece of his two San Diego restaurants in North Park and East Village, is preparing to open what has long been his first love, a hip Asian-style eatery, with a night-life vibe.

For the last 12 years, Mangini has dreamed of opening an Asian restaurant, a move back to Connecticut several years ago and the development of his pizza-centric restaurants, Basic and Urbn Coal-Fired Pizza, intruded on those plans. But still the dream did not fade.

Mangini finally found the right space, an industrial-style warehouse on Sixth Avenue that at one time housed the former Hard Rock Hotel sales office, as well as a collection of other businesses. He gutted the two-level, 8,000-square-foot space and is transforming it into a 150-seat restaurant serving what he says will be an interpretation of Asian cuisine.

“We can really branch out and do whatever we want — add Vietnamese, Thai,” said Mangini, at one time a food and beverage manager at the W hotel in San Diego. “Everything I do I try to have a balance of night life and dining. We’ll create an energy through music, lighting.”

The restaurant’s name, Gang, translates into steel in Mandarin Chinese and was inspired, in part, by the use of steel in the interior décor, Mangini said. Graffiti-style art will adorn a masonry wall, and both the ground floor and mezzanine will have bar and lounge areas in addition to seating for dining.

And to accommodate late-night downtown revelers, Gang will serve food until 2 a.m.

Cost to develop: Because Seasons 52’s parent company is publicly held, it cannot break out development costs for individual restaurants.

Still a relatively young restaurant brand, Seasons 52 will launch its second California location this month, landing in the Westfield UTC mall.

The central location and La Jolla-area demographic, said Carcara, is well-suited to the restaurant’s dining ethos of sophisticated fare that is seasonal and relatively low in calories. (Each menu item is less than 475 calories, and organic greens are used for the salads.)

“We call it upscale casual,” said Carcara. “You can come in and customize the experience you have, whether it’s a five-course dinner at our chef’s table with wine pairings for about $100 or an inexpensive lunch for $15, $16.”

There seems to be no shortage of pizza places popping up throughout San Diego County, many of them laying claim to a special niche they believe they alone can fill. For native Italian Matteo Cattaneo and his physician wife, Alexa Kollmeier, that niche is Neapolitan pizza.

Granted, a few pizzerias specializing in pizza Napoletana have cropped up since Cattaneo and Kollmeier first conceived their dream restaurant, but they’re hoping their South Park spot will outshine the others. Buona Forchetta, which means good fork, typically refers to someone who “takes great pleasure in food and drink,” said Kollmeier.

The couple spent a year negotiating the lease for a long-vacant building on Beech Street in an area that has been gradually gentrifying with shops, a gourmet market, yoga studio and neighborhood restaurant. In addition to perfecting its pizza recipe, Buona Forchetta will also serve salads and fresh pasta and will have a brunch menu on weekends.

“Matteo is very passionate about true Neapolitan pizza and is bringing a pizzaiolo from Naples to work with us,” said Kollmeier. “Right now we have a short-term contract, but if it works out, he’ll stay.”

Cost to develop: $800,000. The popular fast-casual chain so far has just two locations in San Diego County but is preparing to open a third in downtown San Diego where a bus station formerly stood.

Next to the Hotel Sofia, the future Tender Greens spot will initially benefit from a large daytime population of downtown workers looking to grab a quick lunch. Over time, dinner traffic should grow given the high density of downtown condos, said Pete Balistreri, Tender Greens’ regional chef for San Diego County.

In the coming months, the chain plans to expand into Irvine, followed by Marina del Rey and then downtown San Diego. It is also at work conceiving a concessions spot for Lindbergh Field that will be patterned after Tender Greens but called The Garden, Balistreri said.